Lot 64: Juan Correa de Vivar (Mascaraque, Toledo c. 1510-1566 Toledo)

Saint John the Baptist oil on panel, a compartment from an altarpiece 201/2 x 8 1/8 in. (52 x 20.6 cm.) NOTES A pupil of Juan de Borgo¤a, Correa de Vivar's early work shows the direct influence of Borgo¤a's models and compositions and a decorative quality reminiscent of Pedro Berruguete. During this period he painted works for the Clarissan convent of Gri¤¢n, near Madrid, the Guisando Nativity triptych (Prado; Toledo, Museo Santa Cruz) and the Virgin with a Bird (Toledo, Colegio Doncellas). Between 1540 and 1550, his dependence on Borgo¤a's style became less marked, and the formal influence of Mannerist paintings from Rome can be seen in his work. His most important work from this period is the series of altarpieces he executed for the Cistercian monastery of San Mart¡n de Valdeiglesias, Madrid province (now in the Prado and other Spanish museums). Between 1550 and 1560, his work became indirectly influenced by Leonardo and Raphael, possibly through the Valencian painters Ya¤ez, Llanos and Juan de Juanes. In this period Correa's figures became more monumental. His last works are characterised by dramatic facial expressions and by a greater sense of movement in the more elongated figures derived from the style of Juan de Vollold¢ and Luis Morales. We are grateful to Isabel Mateos for the attribution. She dates the picture to circa 1539-40, and compares it with another Saint John the Baptist by the artist (see La Pintura Toledana en tiempos de Carlos V, Universidad de Valladolid, 2000, pp. 235-54, fig. 21).